


Cooking and Cleaning

by lurkerbynature



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Friendship, Gen, I Solemnly Swear That I Am Up To No Good
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-10-27
Updated: 2007-10-27
Packaged: 2018-05-18 09:12:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,202
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5920606
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lurkerbynature/pseuds/lurkerbynature
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Remus Lupin stayed with James and Lily Potter for a while after Hogwarts.  How was Remus convinced to intrude upon their newlywed bliss?   (A short vignette about friends an an offer of help.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cooking and Cleaning

Remus sighed and tried another scrubbing charm on the door.  Something was definitely wrong with the state of Wizarding education, if a vandal who couldn’t spell a simple word properly could master a charm sophisticated enough to emblazon his illiteracy this permanently.  
  
He heard a faint pop and a scuffling noise from the stairwell and turned, wand ready.  To his embarrassment, it was a very pregnant Lily Potter carrying what appeared to be a large casserole dish. She looked tired and worried.  
She took one look at the bright red letters.  
  
“Oh, Remus.”  
  
He turned back to face them himself, trying to hide his blush.  He’d hoped none of his friends would see him like this. He could have just found a new place to kip and not worried them about it.  They got so righteously angry, and he was tired. He looked back at Lily, who seemed fixated on the graffiti, her face suffused with anger as she read —  
  


_**“DYE HALFBREED FREAK”** _

  
  
He shrugged self-deprecatingly.  “I don’t know what the idiot thinks I should dye, but if I don’t get this off my front door I’ll lose any chance of getting my deposit back.  
  
“Deposit?”  
  
“I’m being evicted.”  
  
“Oh.”  She paused, visibly searching for something to say . . . “Bastards.”  
  
He let out a small huff.  “Yeah,” he agreed.  
  
“Before or after?” She indicated the door.  
  
“I’m not sure,” he said.  "The eviction notice was under the door when I saw the love letter.”  
  
“Rat bastards.”  
  
“Yeah.”  
  
He cast around quickly for something else to talk about and his eye fell on the rather obvious casserole dish.  He’d thought he’d convinced Lily he wasn’t actually withering away before her eyes.  She really didn’t need to feed him. So, he went hungry occasionally.  He could handle it.  
  
“Are you trying to fatten me up again?”  He didn’t tell her he suspected James had noticed how he hadn’t ordered food at the Muggle pub the last time they’d met up.   He’d thought he’d managed to keep his stomach from growling audibly, and the blackcurrant cordial he’d nursed through the night could have had something more than water in it.  
  
She coloured briefly.   “I’m nesting,” she explained, “and James is full to bursting.”  
  
“I thought nesting was obsessive cleaning?”  
  
She snorted.  “Not in my case.  Cleaning charms take care of that so quickly that I’ve turned all that excess energy to food.”  
  
He smiled. “What is this, a Muggle Work Ethic?  We can’t have that. You’ll pollute our pure society with excess industry and generosity.”  
  
She smiled, then looked slightly pained and grunted, “Oof.  The baby’s kicking.  Remus, hurry up and take the bloody food and invite me in to sit down while you still have a flat.”  Remus immediately grabbed the casserole dish and turned, but hesitated slightly before opening the door.  
  
“What?”  
  
“Um, about the sitting down bit, hold on while I transfigure something.” He ushered Lily in and glanced around the flat looking for something to appropriate to transfigure.  Looking as through Lily’s eyes, the tiny bedsit looked even more dingy and bare. He wished he hadn’t already taken down the rug that had been covering that patch of wall with the plaster missing and that weird discoloration.  Setting down the casserole, Remus grabbed the crate sitting by his mattress, emptied the contents, and placed it by Lily before transfiguring it into a passable comfy chair.  
  
“Do you want a cushion for your back?”  
  
“No, I’m grand. Thanks.”  She sat down.  
  
Remus looked again at the casserole and gave in.  “Shall I serve up some of this . . . dish?” he asked.  
  
“Fire away,” she said. “I’m pretty sure it won’t poison us.”  
  
“Well, as long as you didn’t season it with monkshood, I should be fine.”  
  
“It is poisonous to humans too, you know.”  
  
“When’s the last time you heard of a human getting killed by aconite poisoning?”  
  
“What?  What are you not telling me?  Did I miss the news?  Is someone poisoning people?”  
  
“Never mind.”  He sighed, sorry he’d made the joke.  The murder was a bit close to home.  WR-2132, whoever he had been, was probably another of Greyback’s victims, the registration number was so close to his own.  He didn’t want to talk about it, particularly not while he still had an anonymous death threat on his front door. He started rummaging for his dishes. “Plate or bowl?”  
  
She gave him a long look then caved. “Bowl please.  It’ll be easier to balance on the baby.”  
  
“Ah yes. I can’t wait to tell little Jenny or Harry that its first role in life was portable table.”  
  
“His or her. Not it.”  
  
“I stand corrected.”  
  
He served up generous portions and handed her the bowl and fork, taking the plate and spoon for himself and sitting cross-legged on the mattress.  Lily looked down and started fiddling with the fork.  Remus decided to wait her out.  He scooped up some of the food and started eating silently.  
  
After a few minutes, Lily started to speak in a rush. “See, here’s the thing.  And don’t interrupt, wait till I finish and then really think about it.  James is being a mother hen, as if being pregnant means I’m completely helpless.  I’ve told him time and time again that I’m perfectly capable.  But, now that I’m going to be home a lot more, he’d feel much more comfortable if there were someone he trusted with me.  We’re pretty high profile targets now.  
“And, I don’t want to tell him this because I don’t want him to worry even more, but I think he’s right.  I am having trouble moving quickly.  I mean, look at me.  I don’t walk, I waddle.  And my back hurts all the time.  It’s distracting.  That stupid potion doesn’t help.  I think the potionsmistress thinks that if it tastes bad enough, you’ll forget that something hurts.  So, really, you’d be doing us a favour if you stayed with us for a while . . . at least until I’m up and running at my usual speed.  We’ve got an extra room sitting there, and I’ll have extra protection without having to risk James’s head getting too inflated by winning an argument.”  
  
He looked at her closely. “So by taking up residence in the room we all just lovingly prepared for your baby, I’m saving your marriage, not imposing on your married bliss.  Very convincing argument.”  
  
“Yes.  Exactly.  It’s a flawless argument.  You’re moving in right away.  You can even cover over the ducklings marching around the walls.”  
  
“Why would I do that?  They’re charming.”  
  
“Prat.”  
  
He stifled a grin as Lily turned her attention to her dish, took a bite, and grimaced.   “. . . and while you’re staying with us, you can teach me to cook.”  
  
Remus smiled, and slowly said,  “I’ll think about it.”  
  
“I’m serious,” she insisted, “James really would be grateful, you know.”  
  
“I know.  I am too.”  He tilted his head and changed the subject, “In the meantime, O Head Girl and top scorer on the Charms NEWTs, do you know any scouring charms that might work on the door?”  
  
She set the bowl down and rolled up her sleeves.  “I did mention that I’m nesting, didn’t I?  Let me at it.”


End file.
